Broadcast News

Satirical CBS animation proves popular with sports fans

CBS Sports has broken new ground in broadcast animation with a cutting-edge, satirical series of animation segments on its weekly pro football ‘NFL Today’ pre-game show, which airs each Sunday.‘Outside the Huddle,’ which features animated comedic anchor Thurston Long, is rapidly gaining a cult-like following among football fans. The show lampoons National Football League (NFL) players, coaches, and other celebrities in comedic skits with Long that poke fun at the very latest news and mishaps from the NFL. “We are very pleased with the decision to make ‘Outside the Huddle’ a fixture of the ‘NFL Today’s’ rotation. What started out as an experiment in the second week of the season has evolved into a series with a life of its own. Thurston Long’s wacky charisma is a strong complement to his human counterparts in the broadcast studio,” said Sean McManus, president of CBS Sports. “We were looking for a vehicle that would allow us to kid around with NFL culture in a way that our live, human hosts could never do. But now the vignettes have developed a culture and a following of their own.”CBS Sports is the first broadcast sports network to deliver a news-oriented weekly animated sequence; an impressive production feat given the amount of material that is written and animated each week. ‘Outside the Huddle’ is produced by CBS Sports along with a group of companies that specialise in fast turnaround for television; including face2face Animation, known for its rapid character animation; Scripted Improv Media, producers of the nationally syndicated daily radio comedy series ‘The Daily Service'; and Synergistix Media, a television postproduction business specialising in sports. (GB)